Just because a person is arrested and even convicted of a crime in South Carolina does not mean they should not have future opportunities to get their life back on track. After a person has served a jail sentence or completed any other portion of their consequences in connection with a criminal conviction, their ability to get a job can be hindered by the very fact that they have a criminal conviction on their record.
An expungement is the process by which a prior conviction can be removed from a person’s record, thereby increasing their chances of being able to find good employment and becoming a positive member of their community. This can be a big contributor to people not getting stuck in a negative cycle.
As reported by WSAV 3, for some time the state of South Carolina only allowed people with very minor indiscretions, such as possession of marijuana, to apply for or receive an expungement. However, in June of this year, the state legislature was on its way to ratifying a new bill that would have provided more people with the opportunity to seek expungements when the Governor stepped in and vetoed the effort.
In addition to expanding the list of potential expungement candidates, the new bill reduced the amount of time it would take people to receive their final expungements. After the Governor’s veto, the legislature went back to work and managed to get enough votes to overturn the veto. The new expungement law will go into effect shortly before the end of this calendar year on December 27.